World Athletics Championships 2023: Noah Lyles completes hat-trick of world titles, anchoring USA to men's 4x100m relay win
Noah Lyles will leave Budapest a six-time world champion, with three gold medals won in the Hungarian capital, after anchoring the U.S. team to men's 4x100m relay gold.
Athletics
Noah Lyles is now a six-time track and field world champion.
The 26-year-old completed a golden hat-trick at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday (26 August) as he anchored the U.S. quartet including Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, and Brandon Carnes to gold in the men's 4x100m relay final.
With defending champions Canada not in the race, different world champions were guaranteed to be crowned, and Lyles made sure that he would leave Budapest as the top men's athlete with three world titles.
The Americans started out the quickest with Coleman leading things off, but by the time Carnes took the baton, the race still appeared to be a toss-up. Carnes opened up the narrowest of leads to hand off to Lyles, who made sure of the victory with a strong final leg, taking the U.S. team across the line in a world-leading 37.38 seconds.
As he crossed the line, Lyles audibly yelled out "three!" while holding three fingers up to signify his golden treble in the Hungarian capital, before blowing kisses to the crowd.
Olympic champions Italy, including Marcell Jacobs and Filippo Tortu, took silver in 37.62.
Jamaica claimed bronze in 37.76.
“This is exactly what I wanted,” a laughing Lyles told the media after the race. “I mean, it’s very nice to see but when you plan for it and you expect it, it’s kind of hard to be shocked.”
Jacobs, the Olympic 100m champion who ran the second leg for the Italians, told Olympics.com afterwards: "It's a great feeling because you don't only for yourself, you run for the whole team, for one nation. We felt incredible energy when we entered the stadium and we knew we had to run me for him, he for me."
Bronze medallist Oblique Sevile, who ran the second leg for Jamaica, said: "This is a new generation and we are proud to bring home the bronze. Sprinting in Jamaica is at a really high level and we have a sprinting legacy... This medal gives us extra motivation for the upcoming Olympic Games. We want to continue to deliver medals for Jamaica."